The F-100 was the USAF's first operational aircraft capable of
flying faster than the speed of sound (760 mph) in level flight. It made its
initial flight on May 25, 1953 and the first production aircraft was completed
in October 1953. North American built 2,294 F-100s before production ended in
1959.

Designed originally to destroy enemy aircraft in aerial combat, the
F-100 later became a fighter-bomber. It made its combat debut during the
Vietnam conflict where it was assigned the task of attacking such targets as
bridges, river barges, road junctions, and areas being used by infiltrating
enemy soldiers.

The F-100C, which made its first flight in 1955, featured such
advances as an in-flight refueling system, provisions for extra fuel drop
tanks and bombs under the wings and an improved electronic bombing
system.

TYPE

Number built/Converted

Remarks

YF-100
F-100A
RF-100A
F-100B
F-100C
TF-100C

2
203
6 (cv)
0
476
1 (cv)

Prototype
Production a/c
6 conv. from F-100A
3 built as YF-107A
6 production blocks
Converted F-100C

The North American F-100 Super Sabre was the first fighter in the USAF
active service inventory capable of attaining supersonic performance in level
flight. Although it was originally designed strictly for the air superiority
role, it came into its own as a fighter-bomber, and flew many of the early
combat missions during the Vietnam War.

The quest for a supersonic version of the Sabre began in February of 1949,
when Raymond Rice and Edgar Schmued of North American Aviation began work on a
company-financed design study for an advanced version of the Sabre capable of
achieving supersonic performance in level flight. This study came up with a
proposal for obtaining this performance improvement by increasing the wing
sweepback of the standard F-86 to 45 degrees. However, wind tunnel studies
indicated that only a relatively small increase in maximum speed would be
attained by this change, due to the steep rise in aerodynamic drag that takes
place as near-sonic speeds are attained.

Clearly, aerodynamic changes alone would not be sufficient to achieve
supersonic speeds in level flight. More power would be needed--a lot more power.
To this end, the Allison Division of General Motors offered an upgraded J35
turbojet rated at 9000 lbs t, which nearly doubled the thrust of the J47 engine
of the F-86. General Electric proposed an advanced version of the J47 rated at
9400 lb.st. dry and 13,000 lbs t with afterburning.

On Sept 14, 1949, NAA decided that they would concentrate their efforts on
the development of an improved version of the F-86D all-weather interceptor with
the goal of achieving supersonic performance. It was to be powered by the
Advanced J47 proposed by General Electric. A maximum speed of Mach 1.03 at
35,000 feet was envisaged. The "Advanced F-86D" (as the aircraft came to be
known) had a 45 degree wing sweep and an area-ruled fuselage. However, the USAF
rejected this idea, proposing that NAA design a day fighter instead.

North American decided to try and give the USAF what it asked for, and
responded with a proposal for an "Advanced F-86E", which was to be a
high-performance day-fighter. The Advanced F-86E that emerged in January of 1951
was similar in many respects to the Advanced F-86D, but had a slimmer fuselage
and featured a nose air intake without a radome on the top. The USAF rejected
this idea as well, but indicated that the idea might be reworked into an
air-superiority fighter.

The next proposal was known by the company as the Sabre 45, the "45"
indicating the angle of wing sweepback. It combined features of the Advanced
F-86D and the Advanced F-86E, but was to be powered by the new Pratt & Whitney
J57-P-1 turbojet, rated at 15,000 lb.st. with afterburner. Maximum speed was
estimated at Mach 1.3 (860 mph) at 35,000 feet and combat radius was 670 miles.
Estimated combat gross weight was 23,750 pounds. Armament was to be a quartet of
20-mm T-130 cannon.

The Sabre 45 finally succeeded in attracting the interest of the USAF. NAA
asked that the USAF purchase two prototypes of the Sabre 45, one to be used for
aerodynamic testing and the other to be used for armament trials.

In October of 1951, the USAF Council decided to press for the development
of the Sabre 45 proposal, in spite of some misgivings of key development
personnel who claimed that the design would be too costly and complex for a
basic day fighter. With the Korean War as a reminder of the perilous state of
USSR/US relations, the Air Force Council wanted the Sabre 45 in service in a
hurry. They thought that two prototypes were not enough to achieve early
operational status and recommended that the plane be purchased in quantity and
full production be initiated even before initial flight testing was completed.
This is a high-risk philosophy, one which would give the Air Force a new plane
in a hurry if everything went as planned, but one which would risk the high
costs and long delays of a lot of in-service modifications should unexpected
problems turn up during flight testing. However, considering the pressures of
the hot war in Korea and the cold war with the Soviet Union, the risk was
considered worth taking. On November 1, 1951, the Air Force issued a Letter
Contract for two Sabre 45 prototypes, plus 110 production aircraft.

On November 9, the Sabre 45 mockup was inspected. The Mockup Board
received more than a hundred configuration change requests, and they identified
several armament deficiencies and requested a number of modifications that would
improve the capabilities of the aircraft.

Work on an F-100A production version was begun under the company
designation of NA-192 on November 20, 1951. On December 7, 1951 the USAF
officially designated the Sabre 45 as the F-100, the first of the Century Series
of fighters. The two prototypes were designated YF-100 by the USAF and NA-180 by
the company.

Click on Picture to enlarge

A Letter Contract for two YF-100 prototypes was issued on January 3, 1952.
On February 11, 1952, the Air Force issued another Letter Contract for 23
production F-100As with Fiscal Year 1952 funds.

Following the mockup inspection, North American reshaped the fuselage with
an even higher fineness ratio and provided an extended clamshell-type cockpit
canopy. The horizontal tail was moved to a position below the chord plane of the
wing, in the hope that it would keep the tail clear of the wing wake at high
angles of attack and would help to prevent the dangerous tendency of a
swept-wing aircraft to pitch up suddenly and violently following a stall. This
sometimes deadly phenomenon had come to be known as the "Sabre dance", and had
been the cause of numerous accidents in the F-86. YF-86D serial number 50-577
was experimentally modified to check out this new low-set horizontal tail
arrangement.

On June 23, 1952, the USAF approved the proposed changes, but asked NAA to
consider the installation of external weapons racks and to substitute
non-self-sealing tanks for existing bladder tanks to save 400 pounds of weight.

During the final design stage, NAA engineers made several changes to
reduce drag and increase engine thrust. They changed the air intake lip so that
it had a sharp edge in order to improve the air flow and to deliver
higher-energy air to the engine at supersonic speeds. The nose was made nine
inches longer. The thickness/chord ratio of the horizontal and vertical tails
was decreased to 0.035. This last change was scheduled for production aircraft,
but was too late to appear on the two prototypes. These changes were approved on
August 26, 1952. At that time, the USAF authorized the procurement of 250
additional F-100As.

The YF-100 that finally emerged from these design changes was sufficiently
different from that originally planned that it was re-designated YF-100A. The
YF-100A had a wing thickness/chord (t/c) ratio of 0.082, as compared to the
F-86's 0.10 t/c ratio. A glove airfoil section was added to the wing leading
edge which reduced the wing t/c ratio still further to 0.07. The ailerons were
mounted inboard on the wing rather than near the tips in order to reduce the
tendency of the wing to twist during aileron deflection at high speeds. The
YF-100A was somewhat unusual for its time in that no wing flaps were provided.
However, the wing leading edge did have five-segment automatic slats that were
actuated by aerodynamic forces. These slats were intended to increase lift at
takeoff, to delay wing buffet, to improve lateral control near the stall, and to
permit tighter turns.

A retractable speed brake was mounted on the fuselage belly. The tall and
narrow vertical fin was swept back, and was provided with a thin rudder.

No fuel tanks were mounted in the wing, all of the internal fuel being
accommodated inside the fuselage in five non-self-sealing bladder tanks having a
total capacity of 750 US gallons. Two under wing drop tanks each carrying 275 US
gallons could be fitted.

The main wheels retracted inwards into the fuselage, and the twin nose
wheels retracted backwards into the fuselage.

Heat-resistant titanium was used in the initial design stage, marking the
first time that this metal had been used in large quantities in an airplane. In
fact, North American actually used 80 percent of all the titanium produced in
the United States until 1954 in the manufacture of the Super Sabre. Titanium is
an extremely strong and light metal and is more resistant to heat than is
aluminum. However, it is rather brittle and difficult to machine, and the
extensive use of titanium sent the cost of Super Sabre manufacture through the
roof.

The armament was to consist of four T-160 (later M39) cannon, two on each
side of the fuselage below the cockpit. Ammunition capacity was 275 rpg. An A-4
ranging gunsight was to be fitted which computed the lead automatically, aided
by ranging information from a radar antenna mounted inside the upper nose inlet
lip and covered by a flush-mounted dielectric panel.

The engine for the YF-100A was the Pratt & Whitney J57-P-7, rated at 9220
lb.st. dry and 14,800 lb.st with afterburner. This engine was, however, derated
from these numbers and was not tuned up to give its full power. On August 26,
1952, the USAF increased its order to 273 aircraft, plus one static test
example.

As the first YF-100A was nearing completion, the Air Force recognized that
two prototypes would not be sufficient for the test program, and they decided
that the first ten F-100As off the line would be used as test aircraft as well.

The first YF-100A (52-5754) was completed on April 24, 1953. It was moved
in high secrecy from the Los Angeles factory out to Edwards AFB. Company test
pilot George S. Welch made the maiden flight on May 25, 1953. The YF-100A
exceeded the speed of sound on its first flight.

On July 6 the YF-100A achieved a speed of Mach 1.44 in a long dive from
51,000 feet. However, on the early test flights, some problems were encountered
with rudder flutter. The installation of hydraulic rudder dampers solved this
problem.

USAF test pilots found that the YF-100A outperformed any other production
fighter in the Air Force, but they also found that there were some serious
shortcomings that might cause problems upon introduction into service. The
visibility over the nose was poor during takeoff and landing. The longitudinal
stability in high-speed level flight was considered inadequate. The low-speed
handling was rather poor, and there was a tendency of the YF-100A to yaw and
pitch near the stall, the left wing dropping uncontrollably. The climbing rate
was too slow without afterburner--it took 16 minutes to get to 40,000 feet. In
addition, the landing was difficult and the touchdown speed was high.

Phase II tests were completed by September 15, 1953, at which time the
YF-100A had made 39 flights tasting a total of 19 hours, 42 minutes.

The second YF-100A (52-5755) flew on October 14, 1953.

Click on Picture to enlarge

In order to show off the Super Sabre, the USAF decided to use it to break
the world's speed record. At that time, the world speed record was held by the
Douglas XF4D-1 Skyray which had averaged 753.4 mph for two runs in each
direction over a three-km straight course. In order to set a new record, the
Super Sabre had to top the previous mark by at least one percent, which meant
that the aircraft had to average at least 760.9 mph over the 3-km course. Lt.
Col. Frank K. (Pete) Everest was chosen to make the attempt. On his first try
over a 3-kilometer course laid out over the Salton Sea, Lt. Col. Everest flying
YF-100A 54-5754 averaged 757.75 mph on the required four runs, faster than the
Skyray but not one percent faster, so it did not count. It was decided to make
another try over a different course, a 15-kilometer course where the one-percent
margin rule would not apply. Under the rules of the Federation Aeronautique
International (FAI), the fastest speed over either course counted as the
official world speed record. On October 29, 1953, Lt.Col. Everest averaged
755.149 mph to set a new official world speed record. Throughout the entire
record-breaking run, Lt. Col. Everest kept his YF-100A within 100 feet of the
ground. This was the last world speed record set at low altitude.

The F-100A (company designation NA-192) was the first production version
of the Super Sabre. The first F-100A (52-5756) was completed on September 25,
1953, and made its first flight on October 29, George Welch again being at the
controls. This was only two weeks after the maiden flight of the second YF-100A
prototype, indicative of the speed with which the Super Sabre program was being
rushed along.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The F-100A was similar in most respects to the YF-100A, but had a shorter
and more stubby vertical tail with increased chord. There was a fuel vent tube
mounted on the fin's trailing edge at the midpoint. There was a small rudder
fitted to the trailing edge of the fin below the vent tube.

The mission of the F-100A was seen as that of daylight air superiority,
and the aircraft was pictured as the natural replacement of the F-86A/E/F Sabre
of Korean War fame. The armament of the F-100A consisted of four 20-mm Pontiac
M-39 cannon installed in the lower fuselage below the cockpit and carrying 200
rounds per gun. The M-39 had been tested in Korea on modified F-86Fs as the
T-160, and fired 1500 rounds per minute at a muzzle velocity of 3300 feet per
second.

At the end of November of 1953, the first three F-100As were delivered to
George AFB to re-equip the 436th Fighter Day Squadron of the 479th Fighter Day
Group of the TAC. This Group became operational with the F-100A on September 29,
1954.

During late 1953, slippages in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak program
caused the Tactical Air Command (TAC) to recommend that a version of the Super
Sabre be developed with a secondary fighter-bomber capability. On December 31,
1953 the USAF directed that the last 70 F-100As on the order be modified as
fighter-bombers and redesignated F-100C. The fourth production F-100A (52-5759)
was chosen for modification as the prototype for the F-100C. The wingtips were
extended twelve inches on either side, improving the roll characteristics and
decreasing stalling speed. These wingtip extensions were considered sufficiently
advantageous that they were incorporated into the F-100A production line
beginning with the 101st example.

The first F-100As had been delivered with a short vertical tail. In
service, USAF pilots reported stability and control problems with their F-100As,
and their suspicion was that the vertical tail was not large enough to maintain
adequate directional stability. This problem was especially severe when the
under wing drop tanks were being carried. Consequently, most of these early
F-100As were never flown to the limits of their performance envelopes.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The 11th F-100A introduced a retractable tail skid to prevent accidental
damage to the rear fuselage underbelly during landings at high angles of attack.

The 24th F-100A introduced a yaw damper system. Provisions for a pitch
damper were installed in the 154th and subsequent aircraft.

The F-100A had been rushed into service with unseeing haste, often over
the objections of Air Force flight crews who found that the Super Sabre had some
serious problems that were not being adequately addressed. Disaster struck on
October 12, 1954. On that day, veteran test pilot George Welch was carrying out
a maximum performance test dive followed by a high-G pullout with the ninth
production F-100A (52-5764) when his aircraft disintegrated in midair. Welch was
able to eject, but his injuries proved to be fatal since his airplane had broken
at the cockpit area and had sent chunks of metal tearing into his body. On
November 8, visiting RAF officer Geoffrey D. Stephenson was killed at Elgin AFB
when his F-100A went out of control and crashed. On November 9, Major Frank N.
Emory's F-100A (52-5771) went out of control and crashed during a practice
gunnery mission over Nevada. Fortunately, Major Emory was able to eject safely.
On November 10, the USAF grounded the entire F-100A fleet, which by this time
numbered about seventy aircraft. A further 108 Super Sabres had been completed
and were awaiting delivery at the factory.

After an exhaustive investigation, the source of the F-100A's stability
problems was traced to its new shorter tail, which USAF test pilots had
suspected all along. A decision was made to switch back to the original taller
tail of the YF-100A. 27 percent more vertical tail area was added, which served
to delay the onset of instability to speeds above Mach 1.4, which were outside
the F-100A's performance envelope. The aspect ratio of the vertical tail was
also increased. With these changes, the height of the modified F-100A increased
to 15.34 feet. The wingtip extensions planned for the F-100C were adopted as
standard for the F-100A, increasing the wingspan from 36.78 feet to 38.78 feet
and the wing area from 376 square feet to 385.21 square feet. The artificial
feel systems for the aileron and stabilizer powered controls were modified.

Click on Picture to enlarge

These changes seemed to do the job, and the existing F-100As were
retrofitted with the changes. The first aircraft to complete the modification
program was the 34th Super Sabre, and the first batch of 11 modified aircraft
was delivered to NAA Engineering Flight Test. Because of the rapid rate at which
production had been built up, it was not until the 184th airframe that these
modifications could be introduced on the assembly line. Earlier aircraft (68
accepted and 112 completed) were retrofitted in hangar areas. Deliveries of the
modified F-100A began from the Los Angeles factory in the spring of 1954. The
grounding order on the F-100A was finally lifted early in February of 1955.

Initial operational capability with the new and improved F-100A was
achieved in September of 1955 by the 479th Fighter Day Wing at George AFB. Late
in 1955, pilots from the USAF Air Proving Ground Command at Elgin AFB in Florida
participated in *Project Hot Rod* to evaluate the suitability of the F-100A for
operational service. Their conclusions were similar to those of earlier
evaluations--the performance was good but there were still some major
operational deficiencies which prevented the F-100A from being a really good day
fighter. Consequently, the F-100A was never very popular with its flight crews.

Click on Picture to enlarge

F-100As from number 167 onward had the J57-P-39 engine, which had the same
thrust as the P-7.

The ejector seat of the F-100A received a rather spectacular test of its
effectiveness on February 26, 1955. On that day, company test pilot George F.
Smith was doing a low-altitude speed run in F-100A serial number 53-1659 when
his plane suffered a hydraulic lock which resulted in an uncontrollable dive. He
was forced to eject at Mach 1.05 and was severely injured, but recovered to fly
again. I think that Smith was the first pilot to eject at supersonic speed and
survive.

The last F-100A was delivered to the USAF in July of 1955. A total of 203
F-100As were built.

Since the F-100A was not considered as a truly effective air superiority
fighter, the service life of the type with the USAF was rather brief, most
aircraft being phased out of the active USAF inventory beginning in 1958. They
were then transferred to the Air National Guard or placed in storage at Nellis
AFB.

In mid-1959, fifteen of these stored F-100As were transferred to the
Chinese Nationalist Air Force on Taiwan. In 1960, 65 more F-100As were sent to
China.

The first Air National Guard unit to receive the F-100A was the 188th TFS
of the New Mexico ANG, which received these planes in April of 1958. In 1960,
the ANG reached its peak inventory of 70 F-100As. During the Berlin crisis of
1961, numerous Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units were mobilized and
called to active duty. This had the effect of returning some of these ex-USAF
F-100As to active service.

In spite of their deficiencies, some F-100As which had been operated by
these activated ANG units were retained by the USAF even after the ANG personnel
were released from active duty in early 1962 following the end of the Berlin
crisis. Most of the F-100As retained by the USAF were used for aircrew training
and were not considered as being combat-capable aircraft.

Thirty-eight of these reactivated F-100As were transferred to Nationalist
China. A total of 118 F-100As were ultimately transferred to the Chinese
Nationalist Air Force, which was more than 58 percent of the total F-100A
production. Many of these F-100As were upgraded with the vertical tail of the
later F-100D before being sent to China.

The F-100A had an abominable safety record, even after the modifications
which had corrected the stability problems with the original short vertical
tail. About 50 F-100A were lost in accidents while in service, which was about
25 percent of the total F-100A production. The last F-100A finally left USAF
service in early 1970. The ANG had lost its last F-100A to attrition in 1967.

The NACA received an early F-100A (52-5778) which it used to perform
stability and control tests. NACA test pilot Scott Crossfield flew the F-100A
during the late fall of 1954 to determine the flight boundaries where inertial
coupling could occur.

Serials of the F-100A:

52-5756/5765 North American F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre
52-5766/5778 North American F-100A-5-NA Super Sabre
53-1529/1568 North American F-100A-10-NA Super Sabre
53-1569/1608 North American F-100A-15-NA Super Sabre
53-1609/1708 North American F-100A-20-NA Super Sabre

Six nearly complete F-100As were taken off the production line during
September of 1954 and modified as unarmed photographic reconnaissance aircraft
under the designation RF-100A. Serials were 53-1545/1548, 55-1551, and 55-1554.
The nose armament was completely removed and replaced by five reconnaissance
camera systems which looked ahead and to each side of the aircraft. The cameras
could not all fit within the existing fuselage contour, and a distinctive bulge
had to be added onto the fuselage belly underneath the cockpit in order to
accommodate all of this equipment. This bulge extended from below the windshield
almost to the wing trailing edge, and was a obvious recognition feature. The
RF-100As carried four drop tanks rather than the usual two because the mission
profile called for a lot of high-speed flight under afterburner and there was no
provision for midair refueling. For some reason, the RF-100A became known as
"Slick Chick".

Click on Picture to enlarge

Few photographs of the RF-100A have been published and even fewer details
are available about its service. The few photos of the RF-100A that have
appeared in print tend to be blurry and indistinct, obviously being copies of
copies of copies. There exists a photograph of one RF-100A painted with the
spurious serial number of 53-2600 (actually an F-89 Scorpion serial number). The
reason for the reluctance to speak openly about the RF-100A seems to be because
this aircraft (along with lots of other types) participated in some rather
dangerous reconnaissance missions flown over Soviet-occupied territories in
Europe during the darkest days of the Cold War. RF-100As would dash at high
speed across the Iron Curtain, take their pictures, then beat a hasty retreat
before defenses had time to react. Needless to say, very few details are
available about these missions. Now that the Cold War is over, perhaps the veil
of secrecy that surrounds these missions can finally be lifted.

In late 1961, four of the RF-100As were sent to the Chinese Nationalist
Air Force on Taiwan. It is generally believed that these aircraft flew
operational reconnaissance missions over the People's Republic of China. The
Chinese Nationalist Air Force often passed the information gained by these
reconnaissance flights along to US intelligence agencies. Again, there are few
details publicly available about these missions.

The North American RF-100A Super Sabre

Click on Picture to enlarge

The F-100B was originally going to be the follow-on to the F-100A. It was
pictured as a faster version of the F-100A day fighter, optimized to take
maximum advantage of the power offered by the J57 jet engine.

The F-100B project began in 1953 as company design NA-212 for an improved
F-100A. On March 4, 1952, North American Aviation management had asked their
design team for an estimate of engineering requirements for the F-100B. The
F-100B retained the original swept wing planform of the F-100A but had a thinner
wing cross section with a 5 percent thickness/chord ratio rather than the 7
percent of the F-100A. An upgraded J57 engine was provided, and the aircraft was
to be fitted with a variable-area inlet duct and a convergent-divergent exhaust
nozzle. Total thrust of this new engine was to be 16,000 pounds. Dual
landing-gear wheels were to be provided which would make operations from
unprepared airfields possible. The fuselage was to be area-ruled and was to have
an increased fineness ratio. The fuel load was to be carried in integral wing
tanks, no provisions being made for the carrying of external fuel tanks. The
F-100B was to expected to be approximately the same size and weight as the
F-100A, and with the increased power and the aerodynamic refinements that would
be made available, a maximum speed of Mach 1.80 at high altitude was
anticipated. Production was expected to begin in 1955.

At the same time, North American began to study the feasibility of
adapting the Super Sabre as an all-weather interceptor. The project became known
as the "F-100I" (I for *Interceptor*) or "F-100BI", although these designations
were not official USAF designations. This aircraft was similar in overall
configuration to the F-100B except that it had a modified cockpit and was fitted
with a nose radome. In order to accommodate the radome, the forward fuselage had
to be redesigned so that it had an undernose variable-area air intake. Provision
were made for underwing drop tanks, and the wing leading edges were to be heated
to prevent icing. An all-rocket armament was to be fitted. The F-100BI was
intended to bear much the the same relation to the F-100A as the F-86D did to
the F-86A.

On October 20, 1953, the factory designation NA-212 was assigned to the
project. Work began on wind-tunnel studies and a detailed cockpit mockup was
built. Work was started on a full aircraft mockup.

In November of 1953, North American started to give some consideration to
adapting the NA-212 to a fighter-bomber role. Six hardpoints were added
underneath the wing, and the wing structure, controls, and cockpit were revised
accordingly. Single-point refueling capability was provided and the windshield
and canopy were revised to improve the pilot's view. A retractable tailskid was
installed and the flight control system was upgraded by the addition of pitch
and yaw dampers.

Neither the F-100B nor the F-100BI attracted all that much interest on the
part of the Air Force. Consequently, on January 15, 1954, the program was cut
back drastically at the request of NAA president Lee Atwood. Plans to undertake
full production were abandoned, and the program was scaled back to a
comprehensive engineering study.

On April 16, NAA decided to settle on the general configuration of the
F-100B as being basically that of the F-100BI interceptor. However, later that
month, NAA learned that the Air Force was interested in the fighter-bomber
configuration of the NA-212. On May 16, 1954, North American directed that all
work on the F-100B interceptor project be terminated and that all efforts now be
concentrated on the fighter-bomber adaptation. The nose radome and the chin
intake of the interceptor version were, however, to be retained.

In the meantime, NAA engineers had discovered that low-speed handling
properties could be improved and landing speeds lowered by about 30 mph if an
inboard blown flap were used for boundary layer control. These were incorporated
into the design at an early stage. The F-100A had been designed without any wing
flaps at all.

Among the changes needed to adapt the F-100B as a fighter-bomber was the
change from a 7.33 to an 8.67 load factor, the installation of a maneuvering
autopilot, the mounting of an AN/APW-11A radar beacon, a Low-Altitude Bombing
System (LABS), an AN/ALF-2 chaff dispenser, an AN/APS-54 radar warning system, a
plotting board and a cockpit computer. Larger and heavier wheels and brakes had
to be designed, and provision had to be made for electric fuseing of external
stores.

On June 11, 1954, the USAF authorized a contract for 33 F-100B fighter
bombers. On July 8, 1954, the Air Force notified NAA that the designation for
the project had been officially changed to F-107A, the USAF concluding that
since this aircraft was so vastly different from the original F-100A it deserved
a completely new fighter designation. On August 4, 1954, the contract was cut
back to only nine service test aircraft under the designation YF-107A. USAF
serials were to be 55-5118/5126.

Late in 1954, the Air Force issued General Operational Requirement 68,
calling for a tactical fighter-bomber and an air-superiority day and night
fighter. North American apparently responded to this requirement, but it is not
quite sure how the F-107A fits into GOR-68. In any case, work continued on the
F-107A at a feverish pace. In the meantime, Pratt & Whitney had developed the
J75 turbojet, a newer and more powerful adaptation of the J57. NAA
enthusiastically embraced this engine as the powerplant for the F-107A.

North American engineers redesigned the vertical tail of the F-107A
fighter-bomber as a single-piece, all-moving slab. A similar innovation was
adopted for the North American A3J (later A-5) Vigilante carrier-based strategic
bomber. A complex spoiler-slot-deflector system on the wings provided lateral
control. The wing leading edge was similar to that of the F-100A and had
automatically-actuated slats, but the wing trailing edge was made up entirely of
tabbed and slotted flaps. There were no ailerons, lateral control being provided
by a set of spoilers above and below the wing. The aircraft had an early
fly-by-wire control system known as the Augmented Longitudinal Control System (ALCS).
It used air data system inputs to provide a command of pitch rate. The major
offensive load was to consist of a nuclear weapon carried semi-submerged in the
fuselage belly on the centerline.

Unfortunately, wind tunnel tests showed that there would be major problems
with weapon release and separation caused by airflow interference from the nose
radome and chin air intake. In order to correct this problem, it was decided to
move the air intake from the nose to the top of the fuselage just behind the
cockpit. This intake was fitted with a complex system of variable inlet ramps to
adjust for optimal airflow to the engine at various speeds. A two-position (3.25
degrees and 12 degrees) engine inlet duct system was installed in the first two
prototypes for the initial flight tests. This system incorporated a vertical
wedge-shaped splitter in the middle of the intake, with four
hydraulically-powered doors attached to the sides of the wedge inside the intake
which would extend or contract as needed to adjust the intake throat area for
optimal airflow to the engine. In the third prototype, the system was made fully
automatic and the doors were continuously adjustable.

The main landing gear was attached to the fuselage (rather than the wing
as in the F-100) and retracted forwards into bays in the fuselage. The
dual-wheeled forward landing gear retracted forwards into the fuselage. There
was a retractable tailskid underneath the rear fuselage to prevent damage during
inadvertent high-angle landings.

The YF-107A was to be equipped with the NAA Autonetics Division XMA-12
integrated fire control system in the nose. This system was to be capable of
detecting airborne targets, selecting a victim, and calculating a lead pursuit
course for attack with guns or rockets.

Because of the unusual location of the air intake, it was necessary for
the canopy to open straight up rather than to open in the usual clamshell
fashion. In an emergency, the pilot could eject right through the canopy without
having to jettison it first.

On January 1, 1957, the YF-107A contract was amended to provide for only
three flying examples, plus one static test airframe.

The first F-107A (serial number 55-5118) took off on its maiden flight on
September 10, 1956 at Edwards AFB, with NAA test pilot Bob Baker at the
controls. It went supersonic on its first flight, although there was some minor
damage upon landing when the drag chute malfunctioned and the aircraft overran
the end of the concrete runway and ended up in a ditch. The aircraft was quickly
repaired and flew again three days later.

55-5118 achieved its first Mach 2.0 flight on November 3, 1956.

55-5119 flew for the first time on November 28. It was equipped with the
armament of four 20-mm cannon and was assigned the job of carrying out
performance and integrated control system testing, and was to check out the
separation characteristics of the centerline store.

55-5120 flew for the first time on December 10. It was the first YF-107 to
have the fully-automatic variable area inlet duct. Unfortunately, the
variable-geometry duct did not live up to its expectations. In spite of repeated
attempts at steady climbs at subsonic or supersonic speeds and even zoom climbs
from maximum speed at 35,000 feet, 55-5120 was never able to get above 51,000
feet. This was blamed on problems with the variable-geometry intake duct and
with the J75 engine, both of which were relatively new at the time. In addition,
there was an annoying "buzz" in the variable air intake at high speeds, which
was traced to instability of the airflow at the inlet.

55-5118 was assigned the task of exploring the zoom climb
characteristics. Test pilot Al White was able to start off at 39,000 feet at
Mach 2.1, and was able to reach a maximum height of 69,000 feet.

55-5119 was assigned the job of evaluating the weapons delivery system. It
was the only one of the three F-107 prototypes to be fitted with the four 20-mm
M39 cannon. Wind tunnel tests had suggested that there might be problems with
the release of weapons from the streamlined centerline container at supersonic
speeds. After some initial problems, on February 25, 1957, test pilot Al White
finally successfully delivered the weapon store while flying at Mach 1.87 over
the Naval test range at China Lake.

The F-107A found itself in direct competition with the Republic F-105
Thunderchief for production orders. In March 1957, the USAF decided to go with
the F-105, and the F-107 was relegated to aerodynamic testing duties. The first
and third F-107As were turned over to NACA for high speed flight testing work.

The first F-107A (55-5118) reached NACA at Dryden on November 6, 1957. It
was given the NACA number of 207. However, it was so mechanically unreliable
that it was grounded by NACA after only four flights and was scavenged for spare
parts to keep the other one flying.

The third F-107A (55-5120) reached NACA at Dryden on February 10, 1958.
The flight testing of the variable geometry intake of the aircraft was cut short
because of its mechanical problems. Eventually, NACA gave up on the F-107A's
variable-geometry inlet altogether and it was bolted fixed in position, limiting
top speed to Mach 1.2. This aircraft also experienced buffeting problems at high
angles of attack. 55-5120 completed some forty test flights for NACA/NASA during
1958-59. On the basis of F-107 flight testing, North American refined the design
of the side-stick planned for the X-15. 55-5120 was damaged on September 1, 1959
when test pilot Scott Crossfield was forced to abort a takeoff because of
control problems. Both tires blew and the left brake burst into flames.
Crossfield was uninjured, but the resulting damage to the F-107A was deemed to
be too severe for economical repair, and NASA decided to scrap the aircraft. It
was cut up and its fuselage shipped to Sheppard AFB in Texas where it was used
for as a fire fighting training aid.

The other two F-107As still survive. After being retired by NASA, F-107A
number 55-5118 was turned over to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona, where
it is now on display. F107A number 55-5119 is in the Air Force Museum at
Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.

The F-100C fighter-bomber was the first fully combat-capable version of
the Super Sabre, and was the first version of the Super Sabre to serve with the
USAF in really large numbers.

In October 1952, even before the YF-100A had taken off on its first
flight, the USAF asked NAA to look into the possibility of developing wings for
the Super Sabre that could carry fuel. In July of 1953, the USAF asked that the
new "wet" wing could be made sufficiently strong enough to carry additional
external ordinance. This concept eventually emerged as the F-100C fighter-bomber
version of the Super Sabre.

On December 30, 1953, the USAF revised the original F-100A production
order and stipulated that the last 70 planes on that order be completed as
fighter-bombers under the designation F-100C (company designation NA-214). On
February 24, 1954, the Air Force ordered an additional 230 F-100Cs.

In order to provide a prototype for the F-100C project, the fourth
production F-100A (serial number 52-5759) was taken out of the test program and
modified. However, because of the difficulty in incorporating integral fuel
tanks in an already-constructed airframe, 52-5759 remained a dry-wing aircraft.
It flew for the first time on July 26, 1954. This aircraft was delivered with
the short vertical tail of initial F-100A aircraft, with the taller vertical
tail being fitted later.

The F-100C introduced wing modifications that added hard points on the
lower surface that could be fitted with removable pylons that could hold either
fuel tanks or weapons. These six underwing stations could accommodate a wide
variety of stores including fuel tanks, napalm, bombs, up to a dozen five-inch
HVARs (high-velocity air rockets), and even "special stores" such as the MK-7
nuclear weapon. A total of 5000 pounds could be carried on these stations. The
wing was locally strengthened to withstand the sudden shock of weapons release.

Click on Picture to enlarge

In order to accommodate the fuel in the "wet" wing, the wing's integral
systems had to be redistributed. A leak proofing system was devised in which all
bolts that fastened skin to spars were sealed with injected material. In the
final design, the F-100C "wet" wing could carry 451 US gallons of fuel. Total
internal fuel capacity was 1602 gallons, as compared with 744 gallons for the
F-100A.

The F-100C had provision for single-point ground refueling, a major
improvement over the gravity-filling of the fuselage tanks in the F-100A. A
wing-mounted detachable refueling probe was added which made the F-100C capable
of in-flight refueling.

The first production F-100C (53-1709) rolled off the line on October 19,
1954. It was conditionally accepted by the USAF on October 29, since all Super
Sabres were officially grounded at that time pending the fitting of new vertical
tails. It took to the air for the first time on January 17, 1955, with NAA test
pilot George Hoskins at the controls. It had the original short F-100A tail, but
was later fitted with the new taller tail.

Click on Picture to enlarge

On May 27, 1954, an additional USAF contract increased the total number of
F-100Cs to 564, more than doubling the initial order. However, on September 27
the contract was amended to stipulate that the last 224 aircraft on the order be
completed as F-100Ds.

On October 11, 1954, North American's Columbus, Ohio plant was designated
as a second source for Super Sabre production. Columbus-built F-100Cs were
designated NA-222 by the company. Air Force designations distinguished
Columbus-built machines from California-built machines by using the suffix *NH*
rather than *NA*. A contract was let which authorized the construction of 25
F-100Cs at Columbus, followed by 221 F-100Ds. The first of 25 Columbus-built
F-100Cs (55-2709) took off on its maiden flight on September 8, 1955.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Provision had been made for an additional pair of 200-gallon drop tanks to
supplement the pair of 275-gallon drop tanks usually carried. However, the
addition of these smaller tanks caused some longitudinal stability problems,
especially at high cruising speeds. For a while, it seemed that the only cure
for this problem would be yet another time-consuming and costly increase in the
surface area of the vertical tail. Paradoxically, the use of larger fuel tanks
cured the problem, and both the 275- and the 200-gallon tanks were replaced by a
single pair of 450-gallon tanks. However, these bigger tanks were costly and
were rarely carried. A change to 335-gallon tanks was later made.

F-100C deliveries to TAC began in April of 1955. The first outfit to
receive the F-100C, the 450th Fighter Day Squadron at Foster AFB in Texas,
became fully operational on July 14, 1955. By the end of 1956, F-100Cs were
serving with the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group in the Fifth Air Force in Japan.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The first few F-100Cs were powered by the J57-P-7, rated at 9700 lb.s.t.
dry and 14,800 lb.s.t. with afterburner. This engine was soon replaced on the
production line by the J57-P-39 with similar rating. However, most F-100Cs (from
the 101st machine and onward) were powered by the J57-P-21, an upgraded version
of the J57-P-7. The -21 was rated at 10,200 lb.s.t. dry and 16,000 lb.s.t. with
afterburner. This engine provided more thrust at higher altitudes, and increased
the speed at altitude by about 40 mph and reduced the time to climb to 35,000
feet by about ten percent.

One of the more serious defects of the F-100C was that this aircraft, like
the F-100A before it, tended to yaw and go into an uncontrollable roll at high
speeds. Beginning with the 146th production F-100C, hydraulically-activated and
electrically-controlled yaw dampers were incorporated on the production line.
This innovation seemed to help to alleviate this problem, and was retrofitted to
earlier F-100Cs.

Beginning with the 301st F-100C, pitch dampers were added to the
horizontal stabilizer control system. This helped to damp out longitudinal
oscillations, which had been an ongoing problem with the Super Sabre.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The J57 engine of the F-100 suffered from a problem with compressor
stalls. A partial cure for this problem was the installation of a pressure
bleed-off which helped to release the accumulated gases and to prevent internal
explosions.

On August 20, 1955, Col. Horace A. Hanes flew a F-100C to set a new
world's air speed record. In two runs made at an altitude of 40,000 feet in
opposite directions over a 15-25 km course laid out on the Mojave Desert, he
averaged 822.135 mph. This was the first supersonic world's speed record. It was
also the first record set at high altitude, all previous record-setting runs
having been made at very low altitudes.

On September 4, 1955, Col. Carlos Talbott flew his F-100C across the USA
from coast to coast, a distance of 2325 miles at an average speed of 610.726
mph. For this feat, Col. Talbott was awarded the Bendix Trophy.

A total of 476 F-100Cs were built, the last example being accepted in July
of 1956.

Click on Picture to enlarge

More than 150 F-100Cs served in Europe. Major bases were at Bitburg,
Furstenfeldbruck, Landstuhl, and Hahn in West Germany, plus Sidi Slimane in
Morocco and Camp New Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The service of the F-100C with the USAF was relatively brief, being
rapidly superseded by the F-100D. Ex-USAF F-100Cs were passed along to the Air
National Guard (ANG), the first squadrons receiving the type in mid-1959. Most
of the F-100Cs remaining in the Air Force active inventory in the late 1950s
served exclusively in training roles.

On October 1, 1961, President Kennedy mobilized the ANG in response to the
Berlin Crisis. Many of these mobilized ANG squadrons were transferred to Europe
to augment NATO, but three ANG squadrons equipped with newly-received F-100Cs
stayed in the United States. This included the 120th TFS, the 121st TFS of the
Washington DC ANG and the 136th TFS. All of these ANG squadrons were demobilized
in August of 1962.

By mid-1966, 210 F-100Cs were in service with the ANG. However, on January
25, 1968, in response to the *Pueblo* incident, President Johnson mobilized a
major portion of the Selected Reserve Force, which included eight ANG squadrons
equipped with F-100Cs. The last of these F-100Cs were phased out in March of
1970, and by late 1970 ANG F-100C strength was back up to 210 aircraft.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The only F-100Cs to fly in combat in Vietnam flew with ANG units which had
been called up for that conflict. A total of four ANG squadrons (from Colorado,
New York, Iowa, and New Mexico) flew F-100Cs in Vietnam.

The USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team operated F-100Cs from 1956
until 1964. Thunderbird F-100Cs were painted in picturesque red, white, and blue
colors, with the characteristic Thunderbird being painted on the aircraft's
belly. They were replaced by F-100Ds in 1964.

A total of 476 F-100Cs were built. The safety record of the F-100C was not
all that good, some 85 of them being involved in major accidents.

As they left operational service, a few F-100Cs ended up serving in test
roles. NACA (and later NASA) operated a pair of F-100Cs (53-1712 and -1717) plus
one JF-100C (52-1709). The first F-100C was used to test a pitching motion
damper. The second F-100C was used to fly chase support. The JF-100C was used
for variable stability studies supporting the X-15 and supersonic transport
programs. F-100C 54-1964 was loaned to the Ames Research center for tests of a
boundary layer control system. It had a thicker inlet lip, a drooped leading
edge, and ducting to carry bleed air from the engine compressor to the wing
leading edge.

F-100C-1-NA 54-1753 is on display at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson
AFB in Ohio.

The F-100D (company design numbers NA-223, -224, -235, and -245) was an
improved version of the F-100C fighter-bomber. It was also the most
widely-produced version of the Super Sabre, some 1274 examples being built.

The F-100D was intended as a dedicated fighter-bomber, with no concession
being made to a secondary air-superiority role. The F-100D had a wing with an
increased root chord, increasing the total wing area to 400.18 square feet.
Unlike earlier Super Sabres, the F-100D was equipped with landing flaps, with
the added flap area giving rise to the crank-wing trailing edge, which was the
familiar distinguishing feature of the F-100D. The F-100D had the same six
underwing hard points as the F-100C, but the detachable underwing pylons used
forced ejection rather than gravity release for dropping their stores. The
vertical fin and rudder were increased in area, and the fin trailing edge
featured a larger and wider square protrusion which carried an AN/APR-26(v)
rearward radar warning antenna in addition to the usual fuel jettison pipe. The
nose-mounted AN/APR-25(v) gun tracking radar of the earlier F-100s was retained.
The F-100D was equipped with a Minneapolis-Honeywell MB-3 automatic pilot which
allowed the pilot to concentrate on navigation or tactics while the F-100D flew
itself to the target. Improved electronic LABS equipment was fitted so that a
MK-7, MK-38, or MK-43 nuclear bomb could be delivered. Conventional bomb loads
could include six 750-pound or four 1000-pound bombs.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The first F-100D (54-2121) flew on January 24, 1956, piloted by Dan
Darnell. Deliveries to the USAF began in September of 1956, the first recipient
being the 405th Fighter Bomber Wing at Langley AFB in Virginia. It rapidly
replaced the F-100C in most USAF wings. By the end of 1956, 79 F-100Ds were in
TAC's operational inventory and 136 F-100Ds were in service at overseas bases in
Japan, France, and Morocco.

There were several major deficiencies identified during early service of
the F-100D. The F-100D, like the A and C before it, continued to be plagued with
bugs. Among these were the unreliability of the electrical system, the
incomplete tie-in between the autopilot and the low-altitude bombing system, and
the inaccuracy of the MA-3 fire control system. Despite these problems, large
numbers of F-100Ds entered the operational inventory before they could be
corrected.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Provision for the installation of a quartet of GAR-8 (later designated
AIM-9B) Sidewinder air-to-air infrared homing missiles was introduced on the
production line with the 184th F-100D. Air-to-air missile armament had initially
been tested on six modified F-100Cs.

Also introduced with the 184th F-100D was a provision for
centerline-mounted fuselage attachment points. These points could carry "special
stores"-a euphemistic term for nuclear weapons.

Click on Picture to enlarge

Nuclear weapons could be carried on the left wing intermediate attachment
point or on the fuselage centerline attachment points. The nuclear weapons that
could be carried included the Mk 7, Mk 28 EX, Mk 28 RE, Mk 43, TX-43, and TX-43
X1, with yields ranging from a kiloton to nearly ten megatons. For delivery of
these nuclear weapons, the F-100D carried the AN/AJB-1B low-altitude bombing
system (LABS). This system was used in conjunction with information provided by
the A-4 gyro sight to calculate aiming and release information for the
toss-bombing of nuclear weapons. In a typical mission, the F-100D would approach
the target down on the deck at about 500 mph and pull up at a steady 4Gs
acceleration. Partway into what would be a half loop, the bomb would be
automatically released by the computer. The plane would then complete the
half-loop and undergo a half-roll and head away from the target. The F-100D
would then go to full afterburner in order to get as far away as possible from
the bomb when it exploded.

Click on Picture to enlarge

In late 1959, 65 F-100Ds were modified to carry the Martin GAM-83A Bullpup
air-to-surface missile. The Bullpup missile was optically-guided to its target
by the pilot using a radio command joystick to impart guidance commands to the
missile while keeping a flare on the missile's tail lined up with the target as
seen through his gunsight. The GAM-83A differed from earlier Bullpup versions in
that it had an improved radio guidance system that freed the operator from the
need to align the target with his sight, permitting guidance from an offset
position. Delays in Bullpup deliveries caused the operational debut of the first
GAM-83A-equipped F-100D squadron to slip to December of 1960. Unfortunately,
this missile was to prove almost useless in Vietnam and was withdrawn from
action after only a few sorties.

North American's Columbus, Ohio factory was designated as a second source
for the F-100D. The first Columbus-built F-100D (company designation NA-224)
with serial number 55-2734 flew on June 12, 1956.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The correction of the F-100D's autopilot problems took longer than
expected. The installation of the improved autopilot, originally planned for the
184th F-100D, was delayed to the 384th. In-service F-100Ds were subsequently
retrofitted with the improved autopilot.

The last 48 F-100Ds had built-in zero-length launch (ZEL) capability.

The last F-100D rolled off the production lines at Inglewood in August of
1959. Production of the F-100D at Columbus had ended in December of 1957.

Problems were encountered with the engine bearings and with the aircraft's
afterburner fuel system. Problems were also encountered with inadvertent bomb
releases from the underwing pylons as a result of improper bomb-loading
procedures. Mid-air refuelling probes tend to fall off the wing during high-G
maneuvers. This problem got so bad that for a period most refueling probes were
actually taken off the F-100D aircraft, pending reinforcement of the underwing
structure.

Click on Picture to enlarge

By the early 'sixties, the F-100D had been subjected to so many in-service
modifications to correct its obvious deficiencies that no two F-100Ds were
alike, making for a maintenance and spare parts nightmare. Beginning in 1962,
about 700 F-100Ds and Fs were subjected to a series of modifications under
*Project High Wire*, a major standardization and upgrading program. The goal of
this program was to extend the variety of non-nuclear weapons that could be
carried, to eliminate excess weight, and to standardize the cockpit and rewire
it completely. Perhaps the most readily noticeable modification produced by the
*High Wire* program was the addition of a spring-steel tail-hook underneath the
rear fuselage. This tailhook was NOT meant for carrier-based operations, but was
intended to engage wires at the end of runways to prevent overshooting during
bad landings. Aircraft so modified were distinguished by adding one to their
production block numbers--for example, the F-100D-25-NA became F-100D-26-NA
after modification. These modifications were completed in 1965.

Even after *Project High Wire* was completed, some problems persisted.
Malfunctions of the landing gear and the unreliability of the drag chutes
accounted for a number of accidents. Compressor stalls of the J57-P-21 engine
still occurred with high regularity. A solution to the compressor stall problems
eventually was obtained by installing F-102-type afterburners on the F-100D.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The F-100D was widely used in Vietnam. Several F-100 aircraft initially
stationed in the Philippines were deployed to Thailand in May of 1962 to try and
restrain the Pathet Lao which were busily overrunning most of northwestern Laos.
F-100s began to be stationed in South Vietnam beginning in February of 1964. The
first combat strike by the F-100D was flown on June 9, 1964 when eight F-100Ds
of the 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron flew strikes against targets in the
Plaines des Jarres in Laos. The first recorded combat loss was an F-100D
(56-3085), shot down on August 18, 1964 over Laos.

Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, USAF F-100Ds began to fly missions
over North Vietnam. These missions were generally of two types--MiG-CAP patrols
to protect strike aircraft from attack by marauding North Vietnamese fighters
and fighter-bomber strikes carried out with iron bombs against ground targets.
On April 1, 1965, F-100Ds flew MiG combat air patrol for a strike force of
F-105s that were hitting the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam.

Click on Picture to enlarge

During these strikes, the MiGs would try to sneak up on these packages
from the rear, make just one firing pass, and then flee. It was assumed that the
F-100D would probably not be an effective fighter in air-to-air combat, since it
lacked a powerful radar set and could not carry advanced air-to-air weapons.
However, every time the MiGs tried to interfere with these strikes they
immediately fled as soon as the F-100s turned toward them. Encounters between
F-100s and MiGs were very few and far between, and I think that the F-100 fired
its guns and missiles against enemy fighters only on one or two occasions, with
inconclusive results.

Click on Picture to enlarge

By June of 1967, only five squadrons of F-100s remained at home in the
USA, most of the rest having been transferred to Vietnam to fight in the
rapidly-escalating war. Although it encountered some maintenance difficulties,
the F-100D proved remarkably adaptable to rough-field operations in the tropical
heat and rain of Southeast Asia. For a time, F-100s enjoyed the best maintenance
record of any aircraft in the Vietnam combat zone. However, as a tactical
bomber, the F-100D was inferior to the F-105 and the F-4. The F-105 could carry
a larger bomb load further and faster. In addition, the F-105 was built to take
the extreme structural loads of low-level, high-speed flight, whereas the F-100
was not. Consequently, from mid-1965 onward, F-100D fighter bombers generally
operated only in the South, leaving the North for the F-4 and the F-105. Down
South, the F-100 turned out to be a very effective ground support aircraft, and
beat back many enemy attacks.

Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the F-100s were gradually
withdrawn from combat in Vietnam and replaced by more capable types such as the
F-105 and the F-4. The last F-100Ds left Vietnam in July of 1971.

The following Tactical Air Force Wings were equipped with the F-100D:

3rd Tactical Fighter Wing (90, 416, 510, and 531 Squadrons)

27th Tactical Fighter Wing (481, 522, 523, and 524 Squadrons)

31st Tactical Fighter Wing (306, 307, 308, and 309 Squadrons)

354th Tactical Fighter Wing (352, 353, 355, and 356 Squadrons)

401st Tactical Fighter Wing (612, 613, 614, and 615 Squadrons)

474th Tactical Fighter Wing (428, 429, 430, and 478 Squadrons)

20th Tactical Fighter Wing (55, 77, and 79 Squadrons)

48th Tactical Fighter Wing (492, 493, and 494 Squadrons)

50th Tactical Fighter Wing (10, 81, and 417 Squadrons)

405th Tactical Fighter Wing (511 Squadron)

Click on Picture to enlarge

Following their withdrawal from Vietnam, numerous USAF F-100Ds were turned
over to the Air National Guard. The ANG had actually gotten its first F-100Ds in
1969, with the 174th TFS of the Iowa ANG being the first receipient. However,
the needs of Vietnam had caused the USAF to delay the handover of F-100Ds to the
ANG, and by mid-1970 the ANG still had only 20. As the pace of the drawdown from
Vietnam stepped up, transfers to the ANG began to accelerate, and by mid-1972,
the Guard had gotten 335 F-100Ds.

The F-100D served with the following ANG squadrons:

152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Arizona ANG

188nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Mexico ANG

110th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Missouri ANG

118th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Connecticut ANG

119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Jersey ANG

120th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Colorado ANG

121th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, District of Colombia ANG

127th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Kansas ANG

136th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New York ANG

166th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Ohio ANG

174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Iowa ANG

181st TFG, Indiana ANG

The last F-100D was withdrawn from ANG service in 1979.

Click on Picture to enlarge

In early 1964, the Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team began
replacing their F-100Cs with Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs. This turned out to
have been a mistake. A major F-105 flying accident in May of that year caused
the USAF to decide to re-equip the Thunderbirds with eight F-100Ds modified for
demonstration purposes. The USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team operated
F-100Ds from July of 1964 until November of 1968, when they started to convert
to the F-4E Phantom.

Click on Picture to enlarge

During an air show at Laughlin AFB in Texas on October 21, 1967,
Thunderbird pilot Captain Merrill A. McPeak's F-100D (55-3520) disintegrated in
midair during a solo demonstration. Fortunately, he was able to eject safely.
The cause was traced to a catastrophic wing failure caused by a series of wing
cracks that had been produced by metal fatigue. The Thunderbirds were
temporarily grounded until their planes could be fixed. Some losses in Vietnam
were also thought to have been caused by this problem rather than by enemy
action, and the entire F-100D fleet was temporarily restricted to a 4-G maneuver
limit until all the planes could be fixed by carrying out a complete
modification of the wing structural box. These modifications were not completed
until 1969.

Click on Picture to enlarge

A succession of in-service difficulties and problems beset the F-100D
throughout its career. The safety record of the F-100D left a lot to be desired.
Over five hundred were lost in accidents between mid-1956 and mid-1970, far more
than were lost in combat in Vietnam. A lot of these accidents were due to pilot
error, the F-100 being a relatively unforgiving aircraft, especially on landing.
Compressor stalls were an big problem, as pilots would try to firewall the
throttle too rapidly, producing a compressor stall.

F-100D 56-3440 is in storage at the Paul E. Garber Facility of the
Smithsonian Institution in Suitland, Maryland.

An F-100D in Thunderbirds markings is on display at the USAF Museum at
Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. I am unaware of the serial number of this
particular aircraft.

The F-100F two-seat Super Sabre originated on May 10, 1954 in a North
American design study for a supersonic trainer version of the F-100 single-seat
day fighter. The initial in-service accident rate of the Super Sabre had been
alarmingly high, and it was suspected that part of the problem might be the
inexperience of its pilots. It was thought that a two-seat trainer version might
help green pilots get used to this hot new supersonic aircraft. On September 2,
1954, the USAF offered to loan NAA a standard F-100C for conversion to trainer
configuration under the designation TF-100C.

In December of 1955, a contract was issued for 259 TF-100Cs, the contract
being accompanied by a corresponding reduction in F-100D procurement.

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The USAF loaned F-100C 54-1966 to North American for the conversion to
two-seat configuration, and the converted TF-100C flew for the first time on
August 3, 1956, NAA test pilot Alvin S. White being at the controls. The company
designation was NA-230. The TF-100C lacked all operational equipment. On April
9, 1957, the TF-100C was lost when it spun into the ground and crashed during a
spinning test. Fortunately, test pilot Bob Baker ejected safely.

In the meantime, the two-seat Super Sabre concept had evolved into a
combat trainer under the company designation of NA-243. The USAF designation was
changed to F-100F. Full combat capability was to be retained and the same
underwing loads as the F-100D were to be carried. However, the internal armament
was reduced to two 20-mm cannon rather than the four guns of the F-100D. The
front cockpit contained all the controls for the armament.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The first production F-100F (56-3725) was flown on March 7, 1957, NAA test
pilot Gage Mace being at the controls.

First deliveries of the F-100F began to the USAF in January of 1958, and
by the end of that year, F-100Fs had reached most of the overseas units that
were operating F-100Ds.

The F-100F-20-NA (company designation NA-255) was a special production
model developed at the specific request of the Pacific Air Forces. It was
equipped with a navigational system including an AN/ASN-7 dead-reckoning
computer, a PC-212 Doppler radar, and a standard J-4 compass system. It had
modified flaps with a span-wide duct built into the leading edges to direct air
from the lower surface over the upper to reduce buffeting during landing. The
flaps had a full deflection angle of 40 degrees, as compared to the 45-degree
angle of deflection for the standard F-100D and F.

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The last of 339 F-100Fs was delivered in October of 1959. All of them were
built at NAA's Los Angeles plant. Included in this total were 45 aircraft
specifically purchased for the Military Assistance Program and intended for
export to US allies overseas. Total Super Sabre production finally totaled 2294,
including 359 built at Columbus.

The same engine malfunction problems, wing structural failures, spare and
parts shortages, and component deficiencies that bedeviled the F-100D were also
experienced by the F-100F, which is not all that surprising since they were
basically the same airframe. In 1962, all F-100Fs (along with their F-100D
single-seat cousins) began to go through *Project High Wire*, which was an
extended program to standardize the weapons delivery system which had been
modified on so many separate occasions that individual aircraft ended up with
significant differences from each other, making for a maintenance and spare
parts nightmare.

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When American bombing raids against North Vietnam began in 1964, combat
losses of US aircraft began to mount. Many of these losses were caused by the
increasingly effective use by the North Vietnamese of radar-guided
surface-to-air missiles. Someone in the USAF got the bright idea that the best
way to defeat the surface-to-air missile threat was to destroy or otherwise shut
down their guidance radars, leaving enemy missile sites effectively blind and
impotent.

In 1965, several F-100Fs were modified for the role of identifying,
marking, and attacking North Vietnamese SAM sites, particularly their radar
installations. Applied Technology Inc. did much of the early work. This company
began by adapting electronic equipment that had originally been developed for
the U-2. In the system which eventually emerged, the F-100F was provided with an
AN/APR-25 radar homing and warning receiver which was capable of detecting the
S-band signal emitted by the North Vietnamese SA-2 fire control radar as well as
the C-band signal emitted by upgraded SA-2 systems and the X-band signals
emitted by enemy airborne interception radars and radar-guided antiaircraft
artillery. A cockpit display included a "threat panel" plus a cathode-ray tube
which showed the bearing of the threat signal. An AN/APR-26 receiver was fitted
which detected missile guidance launch signals by sensing a power change in the
enemy's command guidance radar signal and flashed a red launch warning signal
light in the cockpit. An IR-133 receiver was fitted, this receiver having a
greater sensitivity than the APR-25 homing and warning receiver and having the
additional capability of indicating the nature of the threat by signal analysis.

Click on Picture to enlarge

The modified F-100Fs carried the usual load of 20-mm cannon ammunition
plus a pair of LAU-3 canisters loaded with 24 rockets which served as markers as
well as weapons which could demolish a radar site. Fighter-bombers accompanying
the F-100F would then attack the target with iron bombs. The project was given
the name *Wild Weasel*, after the fierce little mammal which has a reputation of
being so fearless that it pursues its prey into its very den.

Wild Weasel F-100Fs included 58-1221, 1226, 1227, 1231, 1212, and 1232.
The first F-100F Wild Weasel I aircraft arrived in Southeast Asia in November of
1965. The first Wild Weasel F-100F combat mission was flown on December 3. The
missions were flown under the codename *Iron Hand*, and the antiradar missions
were usually flown by one F-100F accompanied by four F-105s. The F-100F would
identify and mark the radar site for attack by the accompanying F-105Ds.

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Three additional Wild Weasel I aircraft arrived in SEA on February 27,
1966, also to participate in the *Iron Hand* anti-SAM campaign. Later, F-100Fs
carried AGM-45A Shrike anti-radiation missiles. The Shrike missile contained a
passive homing system which detected the enemy radar beam and followed it all
the way back to its source. The first combat use of the Shrike was on April 18,
1966, when F-100Fs themselves began attacking North Vietnamese radar sites.

On August 11, 1967, Lt.Col. James E. McInerney Jr and Capt. Fred Shannon
in an F-100F led a mission that destroyed six SAM sites and damaged four,
clearing the way for a strike on Hanoi's Paul Doumer Bridge.

The F-100F Wild Weasel I program claimed credit for nine confirmed SAM
radar kills. An undetermined number of other enemy radars were forced off the
air as a result of Wild Weasel I activities. Two F-100F Wild Weasel I aircraft
were lost in action.

Having proven the general concept, the F-100F Wild Weasel I was eventually
replaced by the F-105F Wild Weasel III and the F-4 Wild Weasel IV

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F-100Fs also flew as forward air controller (FAC) aircraft, replacing
lighter planes such as the Cessna O-2 Bird Dog in this role. This switch was
made after enemy antiaircraft made it too hazardous for light planes to operate,
especially in areas where there were SAMS, AAA, or the threat of MiGs. The crew
member in the rear seat had the maps, carried a hand-held strike camera, and
communicated by radio with the fighters in the strike team. When the strike team
arrived at the target, the pilot would fire the markers and the rear seat would
direct the strike. These high-speed FAC missions were flown under the codename
*Misty*.

As F-105s and F-4s became available in quantity, F-100Fs were phased out
of the active Air Force inventory and passed along to the Air National Guard.
The Air National Guard had received an initial batch of six F-100F in 1958, but
acquired very few more until the late 1960s because of the needs of the Vietnam
war. As the 'sixties came to an end, the pace at which F-100F left Air Force
service quickened and large numbers of F-100Fs began to reach the Guard. By June
of 1972, almost all F-100Fs were out of USAF service, and a hundred F-100Fs were
in service with the ANG.

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Even though the F-100F had originally been designed as an operational
trainer intended to familiarize pilots with supersonic flight, its safety record
was just as atrocious as that of its single-seat F-100D version. About a quarter
of all F-100Fs built were destroyed in accidents. This leads one to suspect that
it wasn't just a problem with pilot training that was the cause of the Super
Sabre's high accident rate, but basic problems with the aircraft itself.

The first F-100F (56-3725) was modified by the USAF Systems Command's
Aeronautical Systems Division for testing of very steep approaches and very fast
landing speeds. This work was done in preparation for the X-15 and Dyna-Soar
programs. In order to perform these tests, means had to be found to build in a
large additional drag which could be added or removed on command. This was done
by replacing the drag chute and afterburner by a thrust reverser that could be
operated in flight. In addition, the standard belly airbrake was replaced by a
special perforated air brake with almost three times the area. The use of these
features enabled the F-100F to touch down at 230 mph rather than the usual 155
mph.

The Super Sabre served with four foreign air forces, those of France,
Denmark, Turkey, and Nationalist China.

The QF-100 Drone

Numerous outdated F-100Ds were modified as pilot-less drones to give Air
Force pilots and Army ground-to-air missile crews experience against realistic
targets. These aircraft were re-designated QF-100.

In August of 1979, a contract was awarded to Sperry Flight Systems for the
conversion of 9 QF-100 drones. Two were YQF-100 development aircraft with added
cockpit controls so that they could be flown by pilots for system evaluation.
Three were built to standard USAF target configuration, three were built to Army
requirements, and one was a two-seat version. The eight F-100Ds converted to
QF-100 configuration had the serial numbers 55-3610, 55-3669, 56-2912, 56-2978,
56-2979, 56-3048, 56-3324, and 56-3414. The single F-100F had the serial number
of 56-3984.

Following these tests, a total of 209 QF-100 conversions were made by
Tracor/Flight Systems Division from F-100s that had been preserved at the Davis-Monthan
AFB in Arizona. These conversions were painted bright red-orange and had a few
extra blade antennas for the transmission and reception of radio signals from
the remote-controllers on the ground. The last QF-100 conversion took place in
April of 1985.

The takeoff of the QF-100 drone was directed by two ground-based
controllers positioned at the end of the runway. Once airborne, the drone was
handed off to a third controller sitting in a fixed-base ground station. A dual
redundant system was used to get the drone to the mission area and to select the
maneuvers. The maneuvers were pre-programmed into on-board computers. If the
drone survived the mission, it was flown back to the handover point, where the
two controllers at the end of the runway brought it back in for a landing.

The first unpiloted flight of a QF-100 took place on November 19, 1981
from Tyndall AFB in Florida. Recently, the QF-100 has been used as a target in
the AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) program. The first AMRAAM
kill against a QF-100 took place on September 17, 1985. The lifetime of a
typical drone was about ten flights before it was destroyed.

The ZEL F-100

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In the mid-1950s, NATO officials became concerned with the possibility
that Soviet nuclear weapons could obliterate Allied aircraft sitting on the
ground at their airfields in a surprise attack, leaving NATO powerless to
retaliate. One of the potential cures for this problem was to disperse aircraft
in hardened shelters far away from targeted airfields, and having these aircraft
launched by rocket propulsion from special platforms. The concept was known as
Zero-Length Launch, or ZEL for short.

A contract change made on October 12, 1956 stipulated that NAA would build
the last 148 F-100D aircraft with ZEL capability. Two F-100Ds (56-2904 and
56-2947) were loaned by the USAF to NAA for tests of the ZEL system.

Click on Picture to enlarge

In order to launch the F-100D, NAA's Rocketdyne division developed a
solid-fuel rocket motor that would be attached to the bottom of the rear
fuselage. This engine was capable of delivering a thrust of 130,000 pounds for
four seconds. This was sufficient to accelerate the F-100D from zero to 300 mph
in four seconds. Following burnout, the rocket motor would drop off the
aircraft, leaving the Super Sabre free to fly.

The first five launches took place with dummy airplane-shaped masses
attached to the rocket motor. The first such launch took place on December 12,
1957.

The first live launch of an F-100D took place on March 26, 1958. On that
day, test pilot Al Blackburn climbed into 56-2904, started the engine, pushed
the throttle to full afterburner, then lit the rocket motor. Within four
seconds, he was flying at 300 mph. The rocket booster dropped off, and Blackburn
entered the standard pattern and landed safely.

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On his second flight, things did not go so well. After burnout, the rocket
motor would not drop off the aircraft and Blackburn was forced to eject.
However, the remaining of the total of 20 launches were incident-free. Airplanes
taking place in test launches carried standard underwing stores, including dummy
nuclear weapons.

Although the system was reliable and relatively simple to operate, it was
never deployed operationally.

The Unbuilt F-100s

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The production history of the Super Sabre came to an end when the last
F-100F two-seater was delivered. However, there were several other Super Sabre
variants subsequent to the F-100F which were the subject of serious design
studies but which never saw the light of day.

F-100G, H

For some odd reason, the designation F-100G and F-100H were never
assigned.

F-100J

The F-100J (probably J for Japan) was the designation given to a
projected, but unbuilt all-weather interceptor version offered to Japan through
the Foreign Military Sales program. The Japanese government expressed no
interest, and the project proceeded no further than the concept stage.

F-100K

F-100K was to have been a version of the two-seat F-100F in which the
J57-P-21A was replaced by the J57-P-55. This version was never built.

F-100L

F-100L was to have been the designation of an equivalent J57-P-55-powered
version of the single-seat F-100D. This version was never built either.

F-100M

The designation F-100M was never assigned.

F-100N

The F-100N (probably N for NATO) was to have been a "stripped" version of
the F-100D with simplified electronics that would be offered to the air forces
of NATO nations. It attracted little interest and was not proceeded with.

F-100P,Q,R

The designations F-100P,Q, and R were never assigned.

F-100S

The F-100S (probably S for Spey) was a 1964 proposal for a F-100F airframe
powered by a Rolls-Royce RB.168-25R Spey turbofan. North American had hoped to
establish a production line in France for two hundred examples of the F-100S,
but nothing ever came of the idea, and no F-100S was ever built.

Sources:

North American F-100 Super Sabre, David A. Anderton, Osprey, 1987

The North American F-100 Super Sabre, Ray Wagner, Aircraft in Profile,
1965.

The First Production Jet Fighter To Go Supersonic In
Horizontal Flight

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The world's first supersonic fighter interceptor belonged
to the same family as the famous F-86 Sabre. In February, 1949, Ray Rice and Ed
Schmued undertook design studies for a developed version of the F-86 which was
to have a 45-degree angle of sweep on the wings and use a new Pratt & Whitney
jet engine which could develop three times the thrust of the Sabre's engine: the
aim was to build a fighter which could exceed the speed of sound even in level
flight.

The "Sabre 45" was offered to the USAF as a
supersonic all-weather fighter but the military requested North American to
concentrate on a daytime interceptor role. On November 1, 1951, the USAF ordered
two prototypes of the new aircraft from the company, designating them YF- 100.
In 1952, this designation was changed to YF-100A to reflect the numerous
modifications which had been made to the original design.

On May 25, 1953, George Welch took off from
Edwards Base, where the Air Force Flight Test Center was located, in the YF-100A
and broke the sound barrier during this maiden flight. The Super Sabre, as the
plane came to be known, was a cantilever low-wing monoplane, with 45 degree
sweep-back, powered by a two-stage Pratt & Whitney J57-P-7 with afterburner, the
oval air intake being horizontally positioned in the nose. The wings were
equipped with leading-edge slats and hydraulically operated slatted ailerons on
the trailing edge. The tailplanes also had 45-degree sweepback and were fully
powered, located very low on the rear end of the fuselage. The engine and
afterburner were installed in the rear fuselage and the pressurized and air
conditioned cockpit was fitted with an ejector seat; the canopy was of clamshell
design, faired into the tailplane by means of a dorsal spine.

Click on Picture to enlarge

On the F-100A, the underside of the fuselage
was an airbrake and the container for the brake-chute. In the front strut of the
tricycle landing gear had double truck and retracted into the fuselage while the
side struts retracted into the wings. In the F-100 program it was the first time
that a very large proportion of titanium was used in aircraft construction,
invaluable for its strength and lightness and this sent construction costs
soaring. Backed by the first prototype's success, the new plane went into full
production, and the first F-100A flew as early as October 29, 1953, only a
matter of days after the second prototype had started flight testing on October
14. That same day the commanding officer of the Air Force Flight Test Center,
Lt. Col. Frank K. Everest, known to his friends as "Speedy Pete" broke the world
speed record in the first YF-100A, reaching 755.149mph at Salton Sea. Two years
later, on August 20, 1955, an F-100C managed to do even better, at 822.135mph.

Click on Picture to enlarge

But all was not well... a series of accidents
had started to worry designers and those responsible in the USAF for overseeing
the program; when the first test pilot of the Super Sabre, George Welch was
killed while testing the plane to the limits of its structural strength, all
F-100As which had already been delivered to 479th Group were grounded. A month
went by before it was discovered that the tailplane fin was not large enough or
strong enough for control of the plane under certain flight conditions. The
aircraft currently in production had their fin and rudder surface area increased
by 27 percent and all aircraft which had already been delivered were similarly
modified, solving the problem.

In February, 1955, the F-100As were cleared
and put back into service, by which time production of this series had ended,
with a total of 203 built, and the assembly lines switched to the series C,
ground attack variant. A total of 476 of these F-100C fighter-bombers left the
assembly lines, with a redesigned strengthened "Wet Wing," so called because of
the fuel no longer being contained inside special tanks in the wing but
free-flowing inside the wing structure, increasing capacity. Hardpoints for
bombs and missiles had been increased to six.

The next variant, the F-100D, was also a
fighter-bomber and 1,274 were built.. these had larger vertical tail planes and
flaps on the trailing edge of the wing; an autopilot system was installed, as
was a rearward-looking warning radar and the LABS (Low Altitude Bombing System);
these series aircraft also had in-flight refueling capability. The F-100D was
equipped to carry and launch nuclear warheads.

F-100F Version:The last F-100 version, the F series, was
based on a prototype which had originally been designated TF-100C, a stretched
fuselage two-seat trainer which was fully equipped for combat missions but with
reduced armament, having two 20mm cannons instead of the four standard in other
variants. A total of 339 F-100Fs were built and the entire Super Sabre
production run ended when the last of these left the assembly lines in October
1959.

The B variant of the F-100 never went into
production under this designation; an all-weather model, it was much faster and
more powerful than the basic variant and was eventually redesigned and produced
as the F- 107. The F- 100D and some F- 100F aircraft were used to carry out
important research into the possibility of assisted take-off or, more accurately
"rocket launching" these aircraft from mobile launching pads, such as an
especially built launching truck.

On May 18, 1958, an F-100A took off in a ZEL
(Zero Length Launch) experiment, with no runway at all, propelled into the air
by its own engine in afterburner, boosted by a 130,0001b thrust Astrodyne
rocket. The takeoff was, in fact, a lift-off. The purpose of these experiments
was to explore the possibilities of aircraft being able to take off from places
far away from conventional airfields, since the latter would probably be among
the first places to be destroyed by the enemy in case of war.

After approximately five years' front line
service the F- 100s were gradually replaced by the F-105 or by Phantoms and they
were relegated to use by 19 Squadrons of the Air National Guard which used them
until 1980.

From 1956, F-100C planes were chosen by two
very demanding users, the USAF aerobatic teams, the "Thunderbirds" in the States
and the "Skyblazers" in Europe, both of these display teams flying them for many
years at hundreds of air shows. The F-100 first saw action when they were
already becoming obsolescent: during the Gulf of Tonkin crisis in 1966, when
four Super Sabre Wings were recalled into service and sent to Vietnam where they
continued to serve until 1971, during which time these (relatively few) planes
flew more combat missions than the total flown by 16,000 Mustangs during World
War 11. Third Tactical Fighter Bomber Wing

Turkish Air Force F-100F alone completed more than 100,000 missions before the
end of l969. When assigned to close support duties or used as ECM platforms
these Super Sabres proved excellent warplanes and many a pilot, when converting
to different, more up-to-date airplanes, regretted parting with his old " Hun "
(from " Hundred "). Although the F- 100 may have been assigned the number by
coincidence, the Super Sabre was the plane selected to inaugurate the "Century
Series" of fighters and this, the USAF's first supersonic plane was a worthy
choice. Other users of the F-100 purchased their aircraft under the Mutual
Assistance program implemented in 1959, under which USAF planes which were
"surplus to requirements" were ceded to friendly countries.

As already noted, the F-100 had the reputation
of being a dangerous plane at one point: 95 accidents for 100,000 flying hours,
even though few of these involved fatalities. Today, however, the record shows
that the average total of flying hours clocked up by each F- 100 is a very
impressive 5, 100 and this must have earned the plane a better reputation. The
Super Sabre was an extremely advanced plane in its day and merits respect for
its influence on later combat planes. President Eisenhower echoed the whole
aeronautical fraternity's admiration for the Super Sabre when he honored North
American's president, J. H. Kindelberger, and his design team with the Collier
Trophy on December 17, 1954, in recognition of their services to the aviation
world.

North American
F-100D/F Super Sabre:

The F-100Ds, last single-seater version of the
first American supersonic fighter, provided with an autopilot and also armed
with bombs attached to the underside of the wings, played an important role in
the Vietnam war, with over 300,000 missions from August 1964 to July 1971. The
Super Sabres, familiarly known as 'Huns,' a shortened version of 'Hundred', were
immediately used for low-level night bombing missions, and during the first
years of the war pounded objectives in South Vietnam where suspected
concentrations of Viet Cong had been sighted. For this type of mission the
F-100Ds were armed with two CBU-24 bombs which, on opening, released a large
number of anti-personnel devices, and two 750lb napalm bombs.

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Once they had dropped their load, the Super
Sabres proceeded to spray the zone under attack with their four 20mm cannons to
complete the cleaning up work. Because of their adaptability and, even more, the
lack of a real alternative, numerous F-100 Wings were used in Vietnam, some of
them consisting of squadrons of the Air National Guard, called up for front line
service. The 3rd TFW alone carried out more than 100,000 missions in 1969! From
the end of 1965 a number of two-seater F-100Fs, the Wild Weasel 1, carrying
anti-SAM electronic equipment, were in action, operating from the Korat base in
Thailand.